Riding on the increasing penetration of smartwatches and influx of low-cost devices, the Indian smartwatch market witnessed record shipments last year, according to market intelligence firm Counterpoint Research. One such brand, which has been received very well in India and offers a range of smartwatches, majorly falling into the budget category, and catering to those seeking affordable Android watches, is Amazfit.
Zepp Health-owned Amazfit has a wide portfolio of smartwatches, which are value-for-money offerings and the newly-launched Amazfit Active stands out as a competent smartwatch, offering handy useful features such as Bluetooth calling, “Daily Readiness Score” and menstrual cycle tracking, among others. The new Amazfit Active brings together useful functionalities and a simple-yet-sturdy design in a smartwatch that falls in the sub-Rs 15,000 segment. Here’s my full review of the Amazfit Active smartwatch.
Amazfit Active Design, Display, Looks And Build
This is a quintessential Amazfit smartwatch and its design exemplifies the sentiment. There’s a sleek square dial, made out of a combination of aluminium alloy and plastic materials, reminiscent of typical Amazfit design. The Amazfit Active is not different from the Amazfit GTS and Amazfit Bip 5 smartwatches, with a sleek rectangular design language, and quite lightweight, weighing just 24 grams. Apart from being lightweight, the smartwatch is ideal for sleep tracking, courtesy of the snug and comfortable design. The Amazfit Active features a bright and beautiful 1.75-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 390 x 450 pixels. The panel’s colours are vivid and smooth with very responsive touch controls through taps and swipes, with the option to keep the display always-on, if desired.
The aluminium case renders a sturdy feel, complemented by a silicone strap. However, the lavender purple variant, which I reviewed, comes with a titanium case, complemented by a vegan leather band. The quality of the vegan leather strap was disappointing and it started to wear away within a few days of regular usage. The smartwatch also features a convenient button on its right side, providing easy access to the menu and various functionalities, which can be further customised. Right next to the button is a microphone, while on the left side, one can find the speaker. At the back of the watch, a plastic case houses all the sensors, along with magnetic pins for quick charging.
The Amazfit Active comes with a range of comprehensive health monitoring capabilities: the smartwatch tracks various metrics including heart rate, stress levels as well as blood oxygen levels. A great addition is waterproof design rated at 5ATM, which can let one swim with the device on for up to 50 metres, thus, making it a good fit for swimming and aquatic activities.
Amazfit Active Software And Pairing
Running on Zepp OS 2.0, like all other Amazfit smartwatches, this one offers a smooth and seamless user experience, devoid of any lag. Zepp OS is an intuitive OS and it is easy to familiarise yourself with, and it also offers a range of high-performing smartwatch features. In fact, Zepp OS stands out as one of the best operating systems, after Google’s Wear OS.
The Amazfit Active smartwatch gives easy access to essential features such as notifications, music controls, weather updates as well as a number of watch faces. Some of the nifty features the device supports, include Bluetooth calls, Amazon Alexa support, and the capability to store music, elevating its functionality. However, it does not support contactless payments. However, some may find the companion app a tad bit cluttered.
In terms of displaying notifications from both native and third-party apps, one has to tap to expand them, in order to read notifications in full. Making calls via Bluetooth is also easy. Apart from the watch faces on the companion app, if desired, one can create their own watch faces using their own images.
Amazfit Active Health, Sleep And Fitness Tracking
The Amazfit Active smartwatch comes with a multitude of functions such as sleep monitoring, menstrual cycle tracking for women, breathing exercises, step counting, voice memo recording, among others. The device also has an accelerometer that facilitates indoor workout tracking as well as sleep monitoring. The biometric sensor, on the other hand, monitors heart rate, temperature and blood oxygen levels.
The smartwatch excels in terms of health tracking and provides mostly accurate results. The sleep tracking feature also proved reliable, accurately reflecting sleep duration. The one-tap measuring feature effectively gauges heart rate, stress levels, and blood oxygen saturation within 45 seconds, offering a swift overview of health status. This allows for easy tracking of key health metrics throughout the day in less than a minute each time.
The smartwatch also features built-in GPS functionality, which is very useful for tracking outdoor exercise sessions. However, the GPS and heart rate tracking can give inaccurate results during intense workouts. Amazfit has also jumped into the artificial intelligence (AI) bandwagon with the AI-powered Zepp Coach, which can be accessed via companion app, and leverages artificial intelligence to provide personalised fitness recommendation and workouts.
The “Readiness” feature of the smartwatch is my favourite which is essentially the all-day tracking feature, similar to what we have seen Fitbit and Garmin doing with their wearables. The Readiness feature rates you out of 100 based on heart rate variability, sleep breathing quality and resting heart rate. Scoring in green means you’re doing well.
Amazfit Active Battery Life And Performance
The Amazfit Active features a 300mAh battery, with a claimed battery life of 14 days under typical usage, and up to 10 days with heavy usage. The company also promises up to 30 days in battery saver mode, on a single charge. The battery life of the Amazfit Active really stands out. During my usage, which involved regular tracking of heart rate and workouts and with the always-on display, the battery lasted between 11-12 days, which is impressive and just a tad bit short of the company’s claims. If you are content with relying only on the raise-to-wake function and do not use power-intensive features such as GPS or continuous heart rate tracking and all health tracking features, this watch can easily last longer.
Amazfit Active Verdict
The Amazfit Active positions itself as a contender against the likes of the Fitbit Versa and the Garmin Venu Sq. This is not a top-tier smartwatch that rivals Apple, Samsung or Google. This smartwatch, priced under Rs 15,000 comes with a sturdy and well-crafted design and offers great functionality and health tracking features.